I have to completely disagree. Just look at the Baltimore Ravens. Those guys have been trending up each year constantly deep in the playoffs or in the AFC championship game... they just won a Super Bowl.

If you think the Ravens have been trending up leading to their superbowl win, then I think you and I have different definitions of trending up.

Ravens have been stagnant. As a matter of fact, with the age of that roster and the injuries they had I might even say they've been trending down.

But that means nothing because last year when it mattered most, they played good football. Trending in the NFL means very little.

Reading the list, I have no problem with Schaub at 9. He's ahead of 4 guys who could be MUCH better, or could look terrible next year in Kap, Luck, RG3, and RW. Schaub is who he is, in a way that's scary, but in a way that's refreshing. We'll see.

I'd agree in as much as the only Super Bowl team I can think of that did any trending were the Steelers, with Cowher. Maybe the Colts that one year.

Other than that, Most Super Bowl teams in today's time anyway, explode on the scene & stay there for a little while. The Patriots went from mediocre to Super Bowl, & have just played at a high level ever since.

The Giants are trying to fire their coach every other year... I guess that's a trend.

The rest of the starters are either bottom barrel to me. From a ranking perspective I can see anyone from the 3rd and 4th tiers being ranked above or ahead of the rest. There isn't a lot of difference between the QBs on each tier. The above average vets all have strengths and issues. I would take some of the young guns instead of Schaub, but I don't know if I would swap him for Cutler, Rivers, or Romo.

One question: Recall the deep throw that Flacco made to Jacoby Jones to win the Denver game (LINK in case you forgot).... That ball is 55 yds in the air... Can Schaub make that throw?? Perhaps more importantly; does Schaub have the stones to pull the trigger in that situation?

A secondary question, does Schaub avoid the rush - as Flacco did - enough to give himself the opportunity to even try the throw.

That's the difference.
Big game. Big situation. Flacco believes in himself and gambles. Would Schaub?

He is a dropped Evans TD pass from going to the last 2 Super Bowls. Flacco has accomplished much more in his career than Schaub has in his. That's not debatable.

I'm not debating how much Flacco has accomplished. He's been on a better team since he came into the league. We want our team to be as consistently good as the Ravens. But that doesn't mean that Ray Rice is better than Arian Foster, or Bolden better than Andre, both of whom have accomplished more than their counterparts on our team.

Flacco is clutch, & when the game is on the line he is without a doubt, in my mind, the better of the two. But he is not a better QB than Matt Schaub.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

One question: Recall the deep throw that Flacco made to Jacoby Jones to win the Denver game (LINK in case you forgot).... That ball is 55 yds in the air... Can Schaub make that throw?? Perhaps more importantly; does Schaub have the stones to pull the trigger in that situation?

Yes, Schaub can make that throw. I don't think Flacco would pull the trigger 100% of the time, maybe 85/15 that he throws it. Schaub is probably 75/25. Y'all act like Schaub's never thrown it out like that to win a game, or get us to OT.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

A secondary question, does Schaub avoid the rush - as Flacco did - enough to give himself the opportunity to even try the throw.

I recently watched our game against Indy in Indy. Schaub was doing what he had to do to avoid the rush, which included making plays outside the pocket, with or without the play action. He's not as good at it as many other QBs, but he can do it, has done it, & will do it again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

That's the difference.
Big game. Big situation. Flacco believes in himself and gambles. Would Schaub?

The difference is when Flacco throws it out ther & "gambles" on himself, someone makes a play & catches the ball. (I'm looking at you James Casey)

I truly hope the Texans know about these discussions we have on this board. I hope that they hear the comments on the radio, & read the comments to the blogs. They all need to see the fire that Schaub is under & understand he was not the only one who didn't "step" up.

I'm not debating how much Flacco has accomplished. He's been on a better team since he came into the league. We want our team to be as consistently good as the Ravens. But that doesn't mean that Ray Rice is better than Arian Foster, or Bolden better than Andre, both of whom have accomplished more than their counterparts on our team.

Flacco is clutch, & when the game is on the line he is without a doubt, in my mind, the better of the two. But he is not a better QB than Matt Schaub.

I hear what your saying... kinda...
BUT...
All other things being equal, if Flacco is clutch (11 TDs/ Zero INTs in this playoff run) and Schaub much less so (2 TDs / 2 INTs in his two games) how can Flacco not be the better QB??

Quote:

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

Yes, Schaub can make that throw. I don't think Flacco would pull the trigger 100% of the time, maybe 85/15 that he throws it. Schaub is probably 75/25. Y'all act like Schaub's never thrown it out like that to win a game, or get us to OT.

The thing is Schaub has yet to do it when the bright lights come on.

[quote=thunderkyss;2183650]I recently watched our game against Indy in Indy. Schaub was doing what he had to do to avoid the rush, which included making plays outside the pocket, with or without the play action. He's not as good at it as many other QBs, but he can do it, has done it, & will do it again.

The difference is when Flacco throws it out there & "gambles" on himself, someone makes a play & catches the ball. (I'm looking at you James Casey) so am I! Jacoby comes thru in the clutch and Casey whiffs! WTF!
Again, performing against Indy @ Indy is not playoff football. That's what Rick Smith is talking about when he said, Matt has to step up in big games.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

I truly hope the Texans know about these discussions we have on this board. I hope that they hear the comments on the radio, & read the comments to the blogs. They all need to see the fire that Schaub is under & understand he was not the only one who didn't "step" up.

I take issue with Arian being in this roll call; 172 yds of offense and a TD against the Bengals and 153 yds of offense and two TDs against the Pats... and you say he didn't step up? Can't co-sign that assessment.

I hear what your saying... kinda...
BUT...
All other things being equal, if Flacco is clutch (11 TDs/ Zero INTs in this playoff run) and Schaub much less so (2 TDs / 2 INTs in his two games) how can Flacco not be the better QB??

Both Flacco & Schaub are QBs, 24/7, 365 days of the year. You can't pluck out a months worth of football & point to it as evidence that one is better than the other. You have to look at body of work as well as context. Your stats show that Flacco is the better QB in the play-offs. But Matt is the better QB overall. Consistently.

It stands to reason if Flacco can Flacco himself through the season, then turn it on & become a different QB in the play offs, then so can Matt. Flacco has had more opportunity in the play offs than Schaub has, that's all. We'll see what Schaub does on his fifth trip & compare apples to apples. However, I don't think we'll have to wait that long before Schaub earns a ring. I don't think anyone is saying that Flacco carried his team to the play offs, or to the Super Bowl. Matt is more like Flacco than he is Rob Johnson or Trent Dilfer. If the Ravens can win it all with Flacco, we can win it all with Schaub.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

The thing is Schaub has yet to do it when the bright lights come on.

Again, performing against Indy @ Indy is not playoff football. That's what Rick Smith is talking about when he said, Matt has to step up in big games.

I understand, never argued the point. People said the same thing about Flacco many times before Jan 2, 2012.

[quote=thunderkyss;2183894]Both Flacco & Schaub are QBs, 24/7, 365 days of the year. You can't pluck out a months worth of football & point to it as evidence that one is better than the other. You have to look at body of work as well as context. Your stats show that Flacco is the better QB in the play-offs. But Matt is the better QB overall. Consistently.

It stands to reason if Flacco can Flacco himself through the season, then turn it on & become a different QB in the play offs, then so can Matt. Flacco has had more opportunity in the play offs than Schaub has, that's all. We'll see what Schaub does on his fifth trip & compare apples to apples. However, I don't think we'll have to wait that long before Schaub earns a ring. I don't think anyone is saying that Flacco carried his team to the play offs, or to the Super Bowl. Matt is more like Flacco than he is Rob Johnson or Trent Dilfer. If the Ravens can win it all with Flacco, we can win it all with Schaub.

I disagree with the first part of this post

Rick seems to be in the prove it to me mode whem it comes to Schaub.

Schaub on his best day couldn't throw the ball as far as Flacco did on the game winning TD to Jacopby. if you cant see that you've got blinders on.

Question 2: Any NFL QB can throw a Hail Mary and pray a WR comes down w/ the ball.

All that being said, Flacco is still better than Schaub, but not by much. Flacco definitely has had a better team than Schaub too which is a little unfair also.

Final point on Flacco vs. Schaub. I do think Flacco is better, but before we start calling him "clutch" let's flash back on his "clutch" moments vs. Schaub:

4th and 29 against the Chargers. They don't convert this 4th and 29 They lose this game, they don't win division and their playoff schedule changes and likely everything changes. Great "clutch" dump off:

Flacco to Jacoby again, just listen to the NFL guys saying how disgusting the Denver secondary was. That pass had little to do with Flacco and Jacoby's success and more to do with Denver's ineptitude in my opinion.:

Both Flacco & Schaub are QBs, 24/7, 365 days of the year. You can't pluck out a months worth of football & point to it as evidence that one is better than the other. You have to look at body of work as well as context. Your stats show that Flacco is the better QB in the play-offs. But Matt is the better QB overall. Consistently.

I disagree with the first part of this post

Rick seems to be in the prove it to me mode whem it comes to Schaub.

Since Rick Smith is in WHYDFML mode, Schaub & Flacco aren't QBs 24/7, 365 days of the year?

Interesting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelbtexan

Schaub on his best day couldn't throw the ball as far as Flacco did on the game winning TD to Jacopby. if you cant see that you've got blinders on.

& Flacco generally doesn't make the quick, sound decisions Schaub does. How far you can throw the ball is a small part of what it takes to be a successful QB in this league.

That said, how far was it? I'm pretty sure Schaub has made similar throws.

Steelb will just discount it & say..."that was in Denver, the air's thinner up there which is why he was able to do that.."

I seem to remember Schaub throwing a 50 yd bomb to AJ for a game tying TD in Washington a few years back though.....threw it on the run off balance too.........

I've noticed there are certain members here that will dismiss everything positive Schaub has done and only focus on the negative. I call it misguided hate. Schaub is no Tom Brady. I would love it if he was Tom Brady or if we could find Tom Brady in the 6th round, but that's not the world we live in and we've tried.

Schaub is a very good, above average QB in the NFL. Here is something to think about: Before Eli Manning's 1st Super Bowl win, and before Flacco's win last year those guys were both viewed as average at best with a lot of people thinking they'd never win the big ones. Then they win the big ones and everyone forgets how much they doubted those guys or said how worthless they were. Those that stood behind those guys were the GM, Head Coach, and rest of the front office and they were rewarded with Super Bowl Trophies.

Teams that give up and rebuild every 3-4 years are the Chiefs, Raiders, and Bills. I don't want to become them. I want to be the Ravens. Building on the year before getting deeper in the playoffs, so close to being at that Super Bowl door, putting more pieces in position to get there and then pushing through and breaking down the wall. With Kevin Walter out, Nuk in, and a healthy defense intact I promise we are gonna ravage the NFL this year if our big 6 remain healthy. Then #9 is going to be viewed by everyone as the #9 Jaws called him.